Radio XXVIII, side B, track 11: “Juke Box Hero” by Foreigner

Oh, Foreigner, what is it about a juke box?  Especially in this day and age, when songs are almost as easy to procure as the air we breathe, where you can instantly listen to pretty much whatever you want at any time, what is it about the juke box that still attracts us?  And I’m not talking about those new-fangled juke boxes, Foreigner, the ones that are connected to the internet and have touchscreens and such.  I’m talking about the old-fashioned chrome and glass shrines to music goodness, the kind where there is either a behemoth with flashing lights right next to the bathrooms, or even fancier yet, there were the mini-jukes that were right at your booth, like they had at Lange’s Cafe (maybe they still have them; I haven’t been back there since I had to get my class ring back from a girl I broke up with. . .story for another time, Foreigner).

There’s just something about flipping through those pink-and-white menus and getting that instant rush of nostalgia as you remember a song you haven’t heard in ages, since most of the time the music they’ve stocked is a few decades old.  In a way, that’s what I hope this blog is, Foreigner; I hope people get that same fun feeling I get when checking out the track lists on some worn-down music machine that plays nothing but Elvis and Neil Diamond and Kenny Rogers.  And it don’t even cost a quarter.  Although this great song is worth at least that much, Foreigner.  You guys are most definitely juke box heroes in my book.

“Juke Box Hero”

Standin’ in the rain
 
With his head hung low

Couldn’t get a ticket

It was a sold-out show

Heard the roar of the crowd

He could picture the scene

Put his ear to the wall

Then like a distant scream

He heard one guitar

Just blew him away

Saw stars in his eyes

And the very next day

Bought a beat-up six-string

In a secondhand store

Didn’t know how to play it
 
But he knew for sure

That one guitar
 
Felt good in his hands

Didn’t take long
 
Ta understand

Just one guitar

Slung way down low

Was a one-way ticket

Only one way ta go

So he started rockin’
Ain’t never gonna stop

Gotta keep on rockin’
Someday gonna make it to the top

And be a juke box hero
(Got stars in his eyes)
He’s a juke box hero

He took one guitar (Juke box hero)
(Stars in his eyes)
Juke box hero (Stars in his eyes)
He’ll come alive tonight

In a town without a name

In a heavy downpour

Thought he passed his own shadow

By the backstage door

Like a trip through the past

That day in the rain

And that one guitar

Made his whole life change

Now he needs to keep a-rockin’
He just can’t stop

Gotta keep on rockin’
That boy has got to stay on top

And be a juke box hero (Got stars in his eyes)
He’s a juke box hero (Got stars in his eyes)
Yeah, juke box hero (Stars in his eyes)
With that one guitar (Stars in his eyes)
He’ll come alive

Come alive tonight

<awesome Juke Box Hero jam!>

Yeah
He’s gotta keep a-rockin’
He just can’t stop

Gotta keep on rockin’
That boy has got to stay on top

And be a juke box hero (Got stars in his eyes)
He’s a juke box hero (Aaa-aah!)

Juke box hero (Aaa-aah!)

Juke box hero!
He’s got stars in his eyes
Stars in his eyyyyes